Sunrise
by Kaibun
Summary: Runs parallel to Breaking Dawn. Picking up after Eclipse. No pregnancy. No Renesmee. How would the Volturi try to claim Edward and Alice as part of their army? How would things have been different? How would it have ended? B/E
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: First Twilight story. Have finally strayed out of the Dragonball Z world, but only because I've discovered the best couple to write since Bulma and Vegeta. Anyway let me know what you think. As the synopsis says, this is basically a story that runs parallel to that of 'Breaking Dawn', picking up a month after the events of "Eclipse'. This is how things would have ended if I had written 'Breaking Dawn'. Though there are similarities until the wedding, things begin to change and veer off from the 'Breaking Dawn' story line after that. Let me know what you think!

Chapter One

"Bella!" came the voice across the mall. I turned out the sound of my name. Mike Newton was standing outside the book store, waving at me. I looked warily at Edward standing next to me. He looked back at me and nodded ever so slightly. I waved back at Mike who came jogging over, slowing and approaching more cautiously as he neared Edward. "Bells, hey long time no see," Mike smiled, not taking his eyes off Edward.

"Yeah I've been pretty busy," I laughed. I cast my mind back to the events of a month ago. Something told me explaining to Mike that I'd been caught up with a pack of werewolves and coven of vampires fighting a vicious, murderous army of newborn vampires wouldn't go down well. "Just sorting stuff for uni, you know," I offered instead. Mike nodded, seemingly satisfied by the answer that was so far from the truth.

"Yeah tell me about it."

"So you and Jess still together?" I asked, trying to make polite conversation and reduce the feeling of awkwardness that Edward's silence was bringing to the group.

"Yeah, sure are. Nearly six months now I think."

'_Wow, I really was out of the loop a long time,'_ I thought as I smiled back at Mike.

"So I hear you and ah.." he trailed off, his gaze flicking from Edward's stony face to my left hand. I subconsciously curled my hand next to me. "You and Cull- Edward here are..." he paused. "_Engaged._"

"That's right," Edward said, speaking for the first time. Mike nodded slowly, sucking in his breath. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. The whole situation was radiating awkwardness.

"Well uh, congratulations." Mike extended his hand to Edward. Luckily, Edward's hand was gloved due to the need to appear bundled up for the snow outside. The last thing I needed now was to have to explain Edward's cold skin to Mike. The two shook hands and Mike gave an awkward smile as Edward mumbled thanks. "Well, I guess I'll uh. I'll see you guys.."

"At the wedding," I smiled. "You'll definitely be getting an invitation." Mike smiled, bid goodbye and left us. Edward and I stood there. I looked over at him to see his one-sided smirk that I love so much.

"If you thought that was interesting, you should have heard the human's thoughts." I laughed as we started to walk.

"Edward you say 'humans' like I'm not one of them." Edward smirked again.

"Well, you're different. You're not stupid like the other humans." I laughed again and Edward looked back at me. I felt my heart jump to my throat like it did every time I saw those burning golden eyes. Or the perfectly chiselled face. Or the elegantly upswept hair. Or heard his voice. Come to think of it, I'd realised by now that even the mere mention of Edward's name gave me that feeling. I wondered if I would still feel that way when I was a vampire, when I didn't have a heart.

"How am I different? I'm just as annoying and slow as all the other humans."

"Mmm," Edward agreed half-heartedly. "But you have been different from day one. Do you remember the first day we met?" Edward asked as he reached over and took my warm hand in his icy cold one. Our fingers slipped together seamlessly, like they had been carved as one work and separated later.

I raised my eyebrow. "Edward, how could I forgot? I thought you wanted to kill me-"

"I did," Edward reminded me with a small smile. I laughed. I'd give him that one.

"OK. Fair call. But what were you referring to though?"

"Well. I've had my first day at a new high school many times," Edward remarked as we walked towards the foodcourt, our hands swinging between us. "Anyway. Humans are fickle. But one thing my family have found we can always count on is that wherever we appear, there will be infatuation. Particularly with me, Emmet and Jasper. But with the girls as well. Every female who looked in my direction was smitten. Sometimes they talk all the time and follow me around, sometimes they avoid me like the plague. But regardless of which method they choose I can hear their thoughts and I know their infatuation." Edward looked at me and smiled. "And then you. Not only could I not read your mind, which I might add frustrated me to no end, you barely seemed to acknowledge my existence. You spared no thought for me past that of Mike Newton, or Tyler. I didn't need to be able to read your mind to see that." Edward stopped and lifted his hand, gently brushing his icy fingers against my cheek. "You have been special from day one Bella."

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and watched as Edward closed his eyes and breathed in gently.

"If you knew how wonderful you smelt when you blushed, you would surely refrain from doing it around me," he laughed. I tilted my head a little. For all the time I had spent around Edward and all that we'd been through together, I still felt strange when I thought about Edward's true nature.

We had come to the mall today, at Alice's insistence, to shop for the wedding. Despite mine and Edward's, OK mainly my, insistences of a small quite ceremony at the Cullen's, Alice had not only talked me into ensuring that it would be the largest event of its type that the small town of Forks had ever seen, she had also managed to invite half the town as well. From what I'd heard, there would even be a canine representation from La Push. IT was at that point that Alice decided to show herself, appearing from nowhere, as the Cullen family had a tendency of doing.

"Bella!" came Alice's musical voice. Even with my ordinary human hearing, I would know that voice in a crowd of a thousand. I smiled at Alice as she hugged me, and then another, fake smile as began to twitter on about wedding plans. Next to me Edward squeezed my hand in comfort. I breathed deeply. There was no way I'd be doing any of this if it wasn't for Edward.

*

"I still don't know how I feel about this Bells," Charlie sighed as he sat down at the dinner table. I put his plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of him.

"We've been through this," I said in a tone that clearly said the conversation was not open for discussion.

"I know Bells. It's just. I know you've forgiven him I just-"

"And I know you haven't, Charlie. But this is my choice. Well, to be honest. I never really had a choice. I can't control how much I love Edward, I can't stop the way I feel about him anymore than I can stop being your daughter. And to be honest, I wouldn't change it if I could." I understood where Charlie was coming from. From where he was sitting, Edward had been responsible for numerous hospital visits on my behalf, my breakdown when he left, my disappearance halfway around the world and unparalleled general torment in my life. What Charlie didn't see was how Edward had saved me from James, from Victoria, how he'd gone to kill himself because he couldn't bear a life without me, how he would give his life to protect me. Sadly, I doubted that Charlie would ever see, or be given the understanding and knowledge to be able to see Edward the way I did. If only he knew.

Sensing that I wouldn't budge on the topic, Charlie changed tact.

"Well. You're right, it's happening regardless. But I'll say one thing for him," he paused through a mouthful of meatball, "he certainly won't go hungry. That boy got an excellent cook as a wife." A small smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth as I thought of the irony of what Charlie was saying. No, Edward would never go hungry. But that was not of my making...

"Haha, thanks Charlie," I laughed, more at the thought of Edward eating than anything else. "Well, I had a long day with Alice, I'm going to head up to bed early." More than that, I knew Edward would be waiting upstairs and I was impatient to see him.

"Sure thing Bells. I'm definitely gunna miss you when you're gone." It was something Charlie and I had not really discussed, the fact that I would be moving out. Come to think of it, I hadn't really thought where I would be going. With Edward, obviously. But where? To the Cullens? I guess that would be the logical place to start. We couldn't remain living here long enough to bother buying our own home. The downside of the Cullen's immortality and never-changing appearance was that they had to move around a lot, before people started getting suspicious of their eternal youth. Hopefully, all going well, I would have to move because of my own eternal youth in the not too distant future. But that was a matter that had to wait until after the wedding.

I bid Charlie goodnight and wandered up the stairs, unsurprised to see Edward lying on my back with his hands linked behind his head. He smiled when he saw me and sat up in one of his inhumanly smooth movements. He was next to me in a second, pulling my jacket off and hanging it up for me. The two of us sat on my bed facing each other. Edward put his hand on the top of my thigh as I looked at him.

I felt that all too familiar feeling of my heart pounding in my throat as I gazed into his dark gold eyes. They were getting closer to black. He would need to hunt soon. My heart ached at the thought of a hunting trip, being separated for two days. He reached out and brushed a loose strand of my curly brown hair behind my ear. I looked at him and then turned away.

"What is it?" he asked concernedly. I looked up again, my eyes flicking across his inhumanly beautiful face.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" I whispered. Edward laughed.

"Is that it? Is that what you're worrying about?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. I just. I look at Rosalie. And think of how she was meant for you. I could never compete with her Edward. And all the girls at school, many of them were far prettier than me. And what about all the other women you've met in your last," I paused, "hundred or so years? Surely one of them deserved you more than I do?" Edward chuckled and I frowned at him dismissing my worries so light-heartedly. "Edward I'm serious," I began. He stopped me with a cold soft finger pressed against my lips.

"Rosalie – meant for me? Bella there's only one girl in the whole world who is meant for me. And I'm staring at her." I looked into his intense eyes. People said that eyes were the window to the soul. Edward claimed he didn't have a soul. But by God I could see it there. I felt like I was about to explode with love.

"I know Edward I just – why?" He sighed.

"Bella I get tired of telling you. If you were anyone else you would have frustrated me to no end by now." He placed his hands, one on either side of my cheek. "I love YOU Bella. I chose you. I want you." I sighed, nodding.

"OK," I whispered, nodding again. "I know. I know," I repeated. "I just. I don't-" I stopped, shaking my head. I didn't want to bring it up. It was in the past and I knew how much it hurt Edward to think about it and remember it.

"Bella," he said in as much of a warning tone as he could use with me. I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Bella, love. How can I help you when you don't talk to me?"

"It's nothing," I whispered, turning away and rolling over so my back was facing him. He didn't move for a second, then I felt his weight change and felt his hand land like a dead weight on my hip.

"It's not nothing. Tell me Bella." I sighed and rolled over to face him. Him sitting there staring at me with such emotion and desire and love in those beautiful eyes I knew better than my own.

"I'm scared of losing you," I whispered, so quietly that no one but a vampire could have heard.

"Losing me?" Edward frowned, confused.

"Like... like last time. Edward I- I. I know you came back. But when you were gone, that pain, that loss. I don't even think being turned into a vampire will hurt that much. And I know you told me you'd never leave. But it's just so hard for me Edward. It's not that I don't believe you," I said hastily as I saw him start to become angry. "I just _can't_ understand how you can continue to want me. Edward you're so perfect. You're beautiful, you're caring, you're everything a girl could ever want and so much more. And I'm nothing. I'm just a human girl. A candle next to your furnace."

I heard Edward groan. I didn't need vampire hearing or mind-reading to know what was going to come next.

"Bella. I don't know how to make you understand. I told you once before. You are my life now. I have no life of my own, my existence was meaningless before you. An endless cycle of hunting and over-thinking, learning stuff that I didn't care for only to pass the time in a never-ending circle of existence. And then you," he looked at me with a passion so fierce I knew every word he spoke was the utter truth. "You changed everything. You made me feel things I thought I'd left behind with my human life. You made me see the point in existing again. You made the last hundred years of monotony seem worth it. I would suffer that life a million times again if it met I only got to see you one more time at the end of it."

And then I knew nothing more. His lips were against mine, his whole body burned with a sense of urgency I had never felt in him before. His breath, cold like his skin, tickled my face and I could taste that all too familiar taste of Edward in my mouth. His hands reached behind my head and pulled me towards him. I responded, kissing him back, wishing not for the first time that we didn't have to be so restrained.

Edward pushed against me, lowering me down onto the bed and not breaking the kiss as he did so. Edward held himself above me and the kiss broke apart, his forehead resting on mine as we both breathed quietly.

"I can't be anything without you now, Bella. I asked you to marry me, not Rosalie, not any of those other silly humans you worry yourself with. I want to spend my eternity with _you_. I would die before I left you again."

And finally, I believed him. He must have sensed it in my posture and sigh, because Edward kissed my forehead gently and let himself flop down beside me, his cold arm draped across my stomach.

"I love you, Edward," I whispered quietly as we lay there in the darkening silence.

"As I love you," he whispered gently in my ear.

*

I sighed as I kissed Edward goodbye on the doorstep. I could see Emmet and Jasper waiting in the Jeep, stacked to the brim with tents and camping gear. Charlie stood on the step next to me.

"So where did you say you're going?" Charlie frowned. He was clearly suspicious. I knew he still worried that every time Edward left he wasn't going to come back, and while I'm sure that thought pleased _him_, he knew the effect it would have on me to lose Edward again.

"Camping. My brothers and I are going camping. We've been considering it for a while and there's a spell of good weather coming up," Edward answered politely. An amused smile passed across my face, luckily eluding Charlie's notice. I entertained myself for a second by thinking about Charlie's reaction had Edward instead said "My brothers and I are off to hunt animals, we drink their blood to prevent us attacking and killing humans."

"OK. Well, see you when you get back," Charlie growled, making sure that Edward picked up on the hidden meaning behind his words. Edward nodded respectfully. Even without the double meaning in his words, Edward's ability to read Charlie's mind got the point across loud and clear. With that, Charlie turned from the door, ignoring a wave from Emmet in the front seat of the Jeep and headed inside. I looked up at Edward who smiled at me with his perfect smile. His eyes were nearly black now, a marker of how long it had been since he last hunted. I knew he had to go, but that didn't mean I had to be happy about it, or that I wouldn't miss him.

"I'll be able to come one day," I smiled up at him. Edward's smile faltered for a second. I knew he still had issues with the idea of me becoming a vampire, especially at his own hand, or mouth as it was. "Oh come on Edward," I laughed at his expression. "It's going to happen. Alice has seen it, you've seen it in Alice's mind. I made my decision a long time ago, remember?" I said, referring to the night he had forcibly taken me to prom. Edward nodded.

"I know it's going to happen. But that doesn't mean I can't still have my reservations."

'_Reservation,'_ I thought. Again I wished with all my heart that there was some way to contact Jacob. Things had not ended well between us when he took off. It had been a long time since I had received news of him, and regardless of the fact that I had chosen Edward and not him to spend the rest of my life with, it didn't mean I cared for him any less, nor that I missed my best friend any less. I had decided to maintain calling him my best friend despite the way things had been in the forest with us. One fight, no matter how big, was not enough to destroy the friendship in my eyes. Not after all Jacob and I had been through together. Not for the first time I was glad that Edward could not read my mind.

"OK, well we can have this discussion when you get back." I leaned up and kissed him gently on his icy lips. "Be safe," I smiled, using the phrase he so frequently bestowed upon me. Edward raised an eyebrow at the use of the phrase, but said nothing. Instead, he quickly kissed me back and walked at normal pace to the jeep, climbing in over the door in one graceful motion.

"Bye Bells!" Emmet called from the front seat. "Don't worry, we'll look after him. Won't let any bears get him before the wedding!" I laughed.

"I think I'd be more worried about the bear's safety!" I called back. Edward smiled from the front seat, the three of them waved, and the Jeep was gone in record time. I sighed as I headed back inside.

I understood Edward had to hunt. But I still suffered while he was away. I doubted the fallout from his first departure would ever be completely erased. But I could deal with it now. I knew how much Edward loved me. And that comforted me.

"Hey Dad I'm going to give Billy a call and see if Jacob's been around. I might head over to La Push for a while to catch up with the pack," I called into the lounge. Charlie appeared a second later, significantly happier than he had looked when Edward was on the doorstep. He had got used to me calling the Quiletes 'the pack', a term he assumed I used for referring to my friends over there. He had no idea how literal the term 'pack' was intended.

"That sounds like a great idea Bells. Mind if I come over to? What with it being Saturday and all. Thought I'd head over anyway and see how Sue and Billy were." I nodded. Charlie being there would make it hard to discuss wolf and vampire subjects, though the latter was not likely to come up. But it would be nice to spend some time with Charlie.

"Sure thing. Just let me run upstairs and get my stuff. You give Billy a call?" I yelled back down as I disappeared up the stairs. I opened the door to my room and saw a small piece of paper lying on my bed. Knowing who it was from, I smiled as I opened it.

_Bella, _it read in his beautiful, flowing script,

_I know I'll only be gone a couple of days but I still worry about you. You're so fragile as a human. At least that will be one bonus of you being a vampire, you won't be so vulnerable. Anyway. The rest of the family are around and Alice is keeping an eye on you for me. Any problems and she'll be there. See you when I get back. I love you._

_Be safe,_

_Edward_

So he had got the last word in after all. I smiled, bending down and slipping the note under the loose floorboard where I kept all my things from Edward that would raise questions should Charlie find them. I quickly packed some warm clothes into a bag and jogged back downstairs to meet Charlie.

*


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Response to the first chapter wasn't bad, considering that it was after all a first chapter and the story has, as yet, no following or standing. So anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. The wedding will be the next chapter and from then on things start changing more and getting further away from the plot of Breaking Dawn. Look forward to hearing what you all think.

Don't forget to leave a REVIEW, even if it is only a few words long. I spend a lot of time working through these stories and it's nice to know that you guys appreciate them enough to give thirty seconds to write a review.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Bella!" came the delighted voice of Seth. I smiled at the younger boy as he embraced me in a bear hug. Younger he might have been, but physically Seth, like all the Quileute boys, was far my superior. Side effect of being a pre-pubescent werewolf.

"Hey Seth," I choked out as I managed to squeeze out of the hug. I turned and looked around the kitchen. Billy, Sue, Leah, Sam. Faces I knew, but not the one I knew I'd been subconsciously looking for. It was stupid, if Jacob had come back someone would have let me know. But I still hoped.

"Hey, Bella," greeted Quimby. He too hugged me. It felt like I hadn't seen the La Push guys in ages. I noticed Quimby's nose crinkle in disgust as he pulled away. I distinctly heard the term 'bloodsucker' under his breath as he walked away. I laughed. In retrospect I should probably have taken a shower after saying goodbye to Edward. I knew how much the scent of him and his family offended the werewolves. I smiled apologetically at Quimby and turned to see Charlie and Billy chatting animatedly around the table.

I took a seat at the round kitchen table next to Charlie, not really listening to their conversation. Seth, ever-faithful, took a seat next to me.

"How's Edward?" he asked chirpily. I suddenly felt several pairs of eyes on me and I didn't need to look to know that all the wolves, Billy and Charlie were among them. I stiffened slightly, awkward with all the attention.

"He's good," I responded, trying to ignore the intense gazes coming from all directions. Sam was listening keenly, clearly hoping to gather any information I was about to unknowingly give away. "He and Emmet and Jasper have gone hu-camping for the weekend." I corrected myself quickly enough that I knew Charlie wouldn't have noticed. The wolves, however, picked up on the hidden meaning in my words. Seth nodded.

"Anywhere local?" I heard Sam's voice. I knew what he was asking. You would think that after fighting together against Victoria's coven the wolves would have realized that the Cullens really weren't a threat to the local human populations. But I humoured Sam and shook my head.

"No. Nowhere local. I think they were heading right out into the hills. Bit of brotherly bonding," I added, mostly for Charlie's benefit. Sam's nose curled up in disgust at the idea of the bloodsuckers killing things as a bonding exercise but I ignored him.

"OK. Well that's cool," Seth smiled, clearly oblivious to the undertones the conversation had taken on. It was a relief to hang out with Seth. Despite being a wolf, he didn't mind the vampires. Not even their smell, apparently. He quite liked Edward, in fact I wasn't unsure that after the whole thing up the mountains, that Seth didn't almost _idolize_ Edward. I decided to change the direction of conversation before something unfortunate found its way into Charlie's hearing by mistake.

"Any news on Jacob?" I asked, directing my attention to Billy. I liked seeing the pack, but this was the reason I'd really come. Billy smiled sadly.

"No, unfortunately not. No one's heard. Every time one of us tries to contact him, even Quimby or Sam, he doesn't respond."

"So strange," Charlie commented. "I never picked Jacob as the sort to run off. I mean I understand he enjoys working with cars and whatnot, but t seems so unlike him to take off in the middle of the night. I'm sure you wouldn't have minded that he wanted to go to University in California?" Charlie directed at Billy. I rolled my eyes a little. Poor Charlie. The first person Charlie had talked to after Jacob's sudden disappearance had been Seth. Seth had spun a wonderful story for Charlie about Jacob wanting to become a mechanic for Ferrari and how he'd left to go to California of all places to learn but hadn't told Billy or anyone because he didn't want them to stop him. Not the ideal excuse in retrospect, but unfortunately we now had to deal with it.

"And I just can't understand why he's so reluctant to talk to anyone," Charlie mused, almost to himself. I would hate to see Charlie's reaction if he knew that the real cause of Jacob's disappearance was myself and Edward. Just another undeserved black mark against Edward in Charlie's books. It was really my fault, because of my choice. Not Edward. But again, it would be hard if not impossible to make Charlie understand any of that.

"I'm sure he'll come around," Sam nodded. Billy nodded in agreement. "In fact I contacted him the other day," Sam admitted. Everybody's heads shook up. Well when I say everybody, I meant me Charlie, Sue and Billy; those of us not privy to the telepathy associated with being a werewolf.

"When? Why didn't you say so?" Billy asked, or more like demanded. Sam sighed.

"Well it wasn't really much. I wasn't even really trying, I was just sort of hoping. And then he answered. Said he was back in the area for a while but wasn't sure if he wanted to see anyone." Sam looked up at me. "He, ah. He asked about the wedding." My throat tightened. I still couldn't get used to that word, especially when used in regards to me. But more than that I knew how much effect it had had on Jacob and couldn't imagine why he was asking about it.

"What did he ask?" I enquired quietly. The kitchen was still.

"He wanted to know when it was," Sam admitted.

"And you told him?" I asked. Sam shrugged.

"I couldn't really help it. He sorta forced it out of me anyway." I knew what he meant. Once the contact between werewolves had been established their minds were opened to each other. Jacob would only have to have read Sam's mind to find the wedding date. I nodded.

"Is he coming?" Seth asked. It was the question I knew was burning on my mind, and probably that of the other humans in the room. Sam shook his head.

"No. He refused. Flat refused. He said for me to tell you that you know what he thinks of you and Edward being together and that that should be enough of an explanation. He also said to say sorry." I nodded, my throat constricting again. Charlie looked up at that point, frowning.

"Jacob doesn't... you and Edward?" I sighed. Charlie had held his suspicions that Jacob didn't like Edward, but this was the first he'd had it confirmed. I groaned, leaning back in my chair and pulling my hair.

"Dad, can we not get into this now?" I pleaded. This was exactly the sort of direction I'd hoped the night wouldn't take.

"Does you and Edward have anything to do with why Jacob left so abruptly, Bella?" I groaned again and Seth patted my arm sympathetically.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to him since he left." I swallowed, trying to hold back angry tears. How was this my fault? I didn't ask Jacob to love me. Or Edward. And I sure didn't ask them to fight over me. This was the last thing I'd wanted for Jacob, yet here I was receiving the blame for it. Again. "I'm not feeling well," I said quickly and stood up. "I'm going to take the car home and I'll come pick you up tomorrow," I said to Charlie. He opened his mouth to argue but I turned away. "Sorry it was such a quick visit," I apologized to the rest of the Quileutes. They nodded, relatively understandingly and I mumbled goodbye as I stumbled out the door.

*

"How much longer, Alice?" I whined in a very childish fashion. She smiled at me, that beautiful, perfect smile I had come to know so well.

"Not long, Bella. Minutes." I sighed and collapsed onto the Cullen's couch in the lounge. It was Monday morning and we were waiting for the boys to get back from camping. I had stayed with Alice the night before, so I'd be there when Edward got back. It still seemed unbelievable to me; how hard my life was without him even though I'd lived the first seventeen years not knowing he existed.

The minutes seemed to drag by with agonizing slowness. Without warning Alice moved and I leapt up from the couch as though I'd been electrocuted. I followed Alice out to the front door, Rosalie behind us. Carlisle had already left for work and Esme was upstairs tidying.

I heard the jeep coming down the driveway, long after I was sure Rosalie and Jasper had heard it. The jeep pulled into the driveway at speed which a human would have no chance controlling. I smiled to myself as I noticed it was Edward behind the wheel. Even when I was a vampire, I was sure there was no way I'd ever get used to Edward's driving. The three of them climbed out of the jeep, not bothering to open the doors. In a fraction of a second the boys were on the porch. I laughed as Edward hugged me kissing my forehead.

"I didn't think it was possible," Edward murmured in my ear, "but you smell better every time I come back to you." I smiled and looked up at Edward's perfect face, kissing him gently on the lips as his icy fingers tucked a strand of my unruly hair behind my ear. His eyes were the deep butterscotch colour I loved so much. His face was a lot softer after hunting. And he seemed less on edge. Even Jasper seemed at ease. He was a lot better around me these days. After the whole papercut thing I wasn't sure he'd ever be totally at ease around me.

"So," Alice smiled, standing on the step with Jasper's arm around her shoulder. "Now that we're all here, I think this is an excellent time to go through a dress rehearsal for the wedding on Friday." I saw Rosalie roll her eyes and I groaned, burying my head in Edward's chest. Edward laughed and rubbed my back. Alice looked hurt.

"Don't worry Alice," Edward comforted her. "We'll be there." I looked up at Edward, pouting a little. Edward just smiled at me and took my hand as he lead me down to the car. I sighed. Edward was back. That was good. But it was still going to be a long day.

*

"I'm not entirely sure how well Charlie's going to deal with this," I mused out loud as I stood at the end of the aisle next to Emmet, who was impersonating Charlie for the dress rehearsal.

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, looking a little confused. I smiled.

"Giving me away. Well, not so much giving me away, but giving me away to Edward." I chanced a smile towards Edward at the end of the aisle. He smiled that mouth watering crooked smile that made me go weak at the knees and all of a sudden I knew it didn't matter. Whether Charlie walked me down the aisle or not, Edward and I were going to be forever. And when we said "Forever, from this day forward," the literality of the words, though only understood by the few of us privy to the vampire secrets, would put my fears of losing Edward beyond a doubt.

As fake-Charlie-Emmet began to walk me down the aisle a song began to play. I recognized Claire de lune and smiled as I walked slowly. Picking the music had been a big deal as Edward and I both had a great appreciation for music. As I walked down the aisle I briefly wondered what the chances of me tripping over my dress and face-planting in the aisle were. Quite high was my assessment.

At last I reached Edward. Emmet passed my hand over to his brother with a wink and I felt one cold hand replaced by another. The cold had become a comfort to me know. For someone who had grown up in Arizona and loved the heat, I sure had come to appreciate both the coolness of Edward's skin and the dark rainy days of Forks that meant it was OK for Edward to be out in the day time.

I stood in front of him, not the first and definitely not for the last marvelling over the good fortune that had brought me to Edward. His cold hand cupped my cheek and I closed my eyes. Nothing mattered. Not Rosalie glaring at us, not Alice rushing around trying to push Jasper and Emmet into position, nor the rain on the roof of the chapel. Not Esme twittering to herself in the background about menus, nor Carlisle wandering around the room admiring the stain glass windows which while old by human standards were still probably younger than he. Nothing mattered. Not when there was me. Not when there was Edward. Not when we were together. The world stopped and everything; even Charlie, even _Jacob_, fell away. I smiled as I opened my eyes and looked up at his beautiful face. No. Marrying Edward might not be so bad after all.

"Soon," he whispered gently in my ear, his frosty breath tickling my neck, "soon you'll be all mine." I smiled as I looked at him, gently tracing my fingertips across his high cheekbone.

"No not soon, Edward. I'm already yours. I've been yours for a long time." His face broke into a smile and he gently kissed me on the lips.

"Hey!" came Emmet's voice, interrupting the tenderness of the moment. I turned, frowning, to where Emmet had taken the position of the priest next to Edward and I. "Did I say you could kiss the bride?" Edward growled.

"Rack off, Emmet." I laughed.

"He's OK," I smiled back. I looked around the building and my eyes lingered on Carlisle, standing across the stage looking at a cross. "I have to say," I mused out loud as I let go of Edward's hand, "the concept of vampires in a church... it doesn't seem right," I laughed out loud a little. I heard Edward laugh softly behind me.

"I told you. It's a myth. Like the coffins. Like the moats. Like the dungeons. Like the sunlight."

"Ah," I said as I turned back to him. "But sunlight's not entirely a myth is it? It just transforms you into something more beautiful than you already are, not that I thought that possible, rather than burning you to a crisp." This time I heard Carlisle laugh too. I often forgot how sensitive the vampire hearing was.

"Oh real sensitive," came a beautiful snarling voice that I recognised all too well. It blew my mind how Rosalie could be so completely beautiful and so completely hateable at the same time. "That's alright, you all stand there and just pretend like she's not continually insulting us." Rosalie turned to look me directly in the eye. "Our lives would have been so much easier if only Edward had just given in and killed you that first day," she spat at me. Her words stung deeper than they should. I had nothing to say, no witty comeback to put her in her place. Instead I turned away, tears in my eyes, my vision blinded as they blurred in front of me and tried to leave the stage. Of course I tripped. Grace and poise were never my great points even when my mind and eyes weren't clouded by figurative and literal emotion.

I felt my heart leap to my throat as I lost my footing on the edge of the four foot stage we had been standing on and braced myself for the floor. Instead of cold hard ground I felt the cold hard embrace of Edward, ever watching me, ready for this exact moment where I would inadvertently point out my lack of co-ordination amongst my numerous other human flaws.

"Let go," I mumbled to Edward and pushed his embrace away. I could hear Alice and Esme berating Rosalie not too far away. I heard him try to protest and turned my back as I stood, walking from the church. I heard Edward's low, angry voice at Rosalie just as I left the church and before he turned to undoubtedly follow me.

"You're lucky I don't rip your head off where you stand," he growled at his adoptive sister. "The day will come, Rosalie, when I am not so patient and you are not so lucky."

"Now Edward, I know Rosalie was out of line but there's no need to react quite like that-" Carlisle began. I'd heard enough. All I seemed to do was cause grief and dissension within the family that had functioned so well before I came along. Maybe it was better if I never became a vampire. At least then I wouldn't be screwing up so many lives.

I sat down on the grass outside the church, knowing better than to try and outrun Edward. To my surprise it was Alice, not Edward who appeared next to me only fractions of a second later. She put her arm around my shoulders and this time I did not try and throw it off.

"Sssh, Bella," Alice soothed as she heard my sobs, so quiet and subtle a human would never have picked them up. I said nothing. Alice took the silence as an invitation to speak. "Rosalie.... Bella. She's. Oh. I don't know. She's jealous Bella. She sees you, with everything she ever wanted. And the way she sees it you're willing to throw it all away. Bella, it's hard for us as immortals. Even I envy you sometimes. Don't you have a movie that talks about this? The actor, he says something along the lines of "the immortals envy us," meaning you humans, "because everything is precious, any moment might be our last." Bella you have to understand that it's hard for all of us to watch you throw away your precious gift of mortality."

"Gift?" I whispered, mortified. "Gift? To know that everyone I love; Edward, you, Carlisle, your whole family, will stay young while I get old, to know you'll live on after I die, to know that in five hundred years while none of you have changed, I'll be gone from your memories, no more than a ghost of the past. A ghost of Edward's past. To know that in the rest of eternity he's bound to find someone that makes him forget about me." I said the last part in a barely audible whisper.

"No, no, no, no, Bella. Not at all. We could never forget you. It's because you're so special and have had such an impact on all of us as a human that none of us could ever forget you, not if we tried for the next countless millennia." Alice looked at me, her perfect, pristine spiky brown hair, gorgeous golden eyes I wished so badly to see in my own reflection. "No, Bella. You're part of us. Forever. Even Rosalie. In time she will come to understand your decision." Alice smiled as her cold finger wiped a tear from my eye. "Between you and me," she said gently in that beautiful floating whisper of a voice, "I can't wait for you to be a vampire. Or my sister for that matter." Alice put her finger gently under my chin and tilted it up. "Now my brother is waiting inside for you and something tells me if you're not in there in the next thirty seconds we're going to have to construct an explanation for why he smashes the front door off its hinges when he comes to find you."

I allowed myself a small chuckle at the thought as I stood and hugged Alice, more at the thought of what the congregation would feel if they knew their church had been hired out to a family of vampires.

"Thanks, Alice," I smiled as we headed back inside. She took my hand and a big smile beamed across her face.

"Any time Bella. You know that."

As I stepped into the church and saw Edward's concerned eyes lock onto me intently I relaxed. It was hard to feel upset when looking at that face, though I suspected Jasper had rather more to do with my sense of peace than his apparent interest in the Hymn book was letting on.

"Alright!" came Alice's bright bubbly voice. "Last time, from the top?" I groaned slightly and heard Edward laugh, saw him smile at me, and then Emmet had my hand again as was quite literally pulling me towards the doorway to do my entry again.

The sooner this whole chapter of my life was over, I decided, the better.

*


End file.
